Rotary engine



E. W. COOEY ROTARY ENGINE Jan. 4, 1927.

4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 18l 1922 Jan. 4, 1927. 1,613,584

E. W. COOEY ROTARY ENG I NE Filed April 18, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1,613,584 Jan. 4,1927. W COOEY,

ROTARY ENGINE Filed April 18, 1922 4 Sheets-She'et Z *Jan* 4 1927 i E. w. cooEY ROTARY ENG I NE Filed April 18y 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Jan. 4, 1927.

UNI-TED STATES teiassi PATENT oFFies.

EDWARD W'. OOOEY, DECEASED, LATE 0F MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS; BY MARY L. BRUNDAGE, ADMINISTRATRIX, OF MALIDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Application led April 18, 1922. Serial No. 555,355.

This invention relates to improvements in rotary engines such as described and shown in Letters Patent No. 723,242, granted to said Cooey, March '24, 1903, in which the pistons'are revolved around the engine shaft and at the same time reciprocate in a `direction parallel .to its axis; and these improvements consist particularly in the ysteam valves, their location and the means for operating them, and in the construction and arrangement of the pistons.

In the engine of said Patent No. 723,2i2, the pistons were constructed so as to serve as steam valves to admit steam vupon one side of the central web and then upon the other; in `the present construction the valves consist of sleeves or open cylinders which have a reciprocatingsliding motion in chambers, preferably cylindrical in form, in the huh of the rotary portion of the engine. These sleeves are operated by means or' their connection with short levers `at the ends of the engine, one end of each yof such levers being pivoted to the interior'oi the hub ot the engine and the other end engaging av cam-groove around the interiorr of the caps, at the ends of the engine, which forni a part of the steam chamber. These cani-grooves being so shaped that the slidingl valve-sleeves will be alternately moved in and thenlout so asito open and close the `inlet ports from one endoi`l the engine andthe exhaust ports from the otherend. In tlieconstruction shown in the drawings, there are six of these sliding sleeve-valves, three to admit steam, operated from one end ofthe engine and three to control the exhaust, operated from theother end of the engine; these valvesoperate at the respective ends successively, one to admit steam and the next to exhaust it.

Three sets of sliding pistons operate 'in grooves in `a central disc, or web, which is a part oit' the rotary portion of the engine, and these pistons are moved back and jiorth through slots in the disc by the contact of their ends with the sinuous walls of theV annular chamber formed by `v`the cain faces of the stationary portion of the steam chamber. These pistons are 'formed of three or more parts adapted to slideupon one another with suitable packing between them, so as to accommodate themselvesto thecurvature of the walls of the said annular chamber through which they move; the outer ones running in grooves in both the outer cyliii drical portion and the inner portion or' the rotating part of the engine. The packing plate runs in a groove in the outer or peripheral part `of this cylinder.

An oil pump is also provided at each end ofV the engine, in which pistons voi' the character of those shown in Figure 2. of the drawings, are employed to draw in the oil and force it into the interior pai'ts of the engine.

Referring tothe drawings, forming a part of this speciiication: Figure l is a vertical `longitudinal sectional view as though cut oii line l-l, Fig. 3; the engine shaft, vthe pump of the steam chamber, and in elevation, the

levers which operate three of the sliding valves; Figure 5 is an enlarged erosssection ot' the pump, which is similar to the stationary portion B, of the steam chamber, as 0n line 5--5, Fig. 2, viewed in a direction parallel with the shaft, and showing the iace of such stationary portion which forms one side of the annular chamber, with portscut in such curved walls at two sections to serve as the inlet and outlet passages; Figure isa cross-section on line 6 6, Fig. 5. The ring corresponding to B, is shown chambered `for a considerable portion thereof in two sections, into which the inlet and outlet ports are respectively cut. These Figures 5 and 6 are sectional views of modified forms of outlet and inlet ports.

Referring to the drawings by designating characters, A, is the outer cylinder or casing and the stationaryV parts of the engine, the interior parts B, forming with the revolving disc D, and peripheral cylinder D, the steam expansion chamber in which the pistons l?, operate. In the hub H, Fig. 2, is shown a plan view of one of the threepart pistons, while in F ig; 3, across-sectional view of three of such pistons, made up oic two outer plates part pistons is in plan;k

l), P and an intermediate packing plate P. The bevelled ends of these pistons, which may be provided With anti-friction devices, bear against the curved faces like the parts B, and move through the sinuous chamber I, formed thereby together with the disc D,

Vand cylinder D', and at the same time slide back and forth in the slots in the disc D, reason of the bearing of the ends of these pistons against the curved faces of the parts B, thus increasing and then decreasing the area of the steam space betvveen the disc D, and the vvalls of the parts B, as the engine rotates; the steam inlet and exhaust being regulated by ports e, e controlled by the sliding sleeve 'valves V. These valves are operated by levers L, pivoted at their inner ends at 7L, to the hub H, and their opposite ends, preferably provided 'With an anti-friction roll, engage and run in a cam groove g formed between plates J, secured at the ends` of the steam chamber and independently of the engine piston. These camplates are capable of limited independent rotative adjustment. to change the point of steam cut-off. The shape of these cam grooves is such as tov cause the levers L, to swing in and out, and by means of the connecting rods U, pivoted to said levers and to the respective sleeve valves, the flatter are caused to slide in and out in their cylindrical chambers lV, and thus open and close the steam inlet and exhaust ports c, e at the proper intervals to apply pressure behind the pistons l), and relieve the pressure in front of them as they revolve With the disc D. At the right of Fig. 3 is shown the steam supply pipe S, through which steam is admitted to the steam chamber S, C. A two way valve in the pipe S, not shown, is einployed, by Which the supply of steam may be changed to reverse the engine. Oil may be supplied to the interior parts of the engine through pumps O, which in this case are rotary pumps secured to the engine shaft E, S, Within the caps C, at the ends of the steam chamber S, C; Ythe pumps being constructed .vith pistons similar to those indicated as if', in Fig. 2, and with an annular chamber similar to the one I. shown in that figure.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8; 7 is a sectional vieiv of the oil pump on line 7-7 Fig. 8; and 8 a section on line 8--8 of Fig. 7 in which the pistons P3 corresponding to pistons P of the engine are revolved with the disc D2 in a sinuous chamber l2 similarly to the engine pistons. E. S is an extension of the engine ,fh-aft by vvhich the pump-pistons are supported and revolved and which are contained .vithin the cylindrical shell G of Fig; l. As the pistons P2 are revolved, oil is drawn in througa j and spring controlled valve to the chamber l', and the pistons l2 continue to revolve oil is forced out through passages n and thence through passages m, to the engine and other parts to be lubricated. As soon as each piston P2 passes an inlet valve IV, oil is drawn into the chamber I behind it while the preceding piston is forcing the oil out through the outlet valve OV to the passages n, and thence to m in the main shaft and to other parts to be lubricated.

For use in such a pump, or in an engine which rotates in one direction only, instead of making the ports as e, e, through the peripheral surface of the cylindrical hub H, they may be made in the face of the cam surfaces at either side of the annular chamber a front elevation of one of which surfaces, looking in a direction parallel with the shaft, is shown in Fig. 5, e being the inlet port and e the outles. For the purposes of a pump these cams are made hollow or ehambered, as illustrated in the sectional View Fig. 6, on line 6 6, Fig. 5. The same construction of chambered cams may be employed in a steam engine adapted to turn in one direction only, in which case the ports e, e, shown in Fig. 2, will be dispensed With and the ports e', e, shown in Fig. 5, Will serve as outlet or exhaust ports. These ports are cut at an angle to the radii of the center of the shaft, so that the ends of the pistons l),

will not enter the slots and catch therein as they pass. In all of the illustrations of the parts which are to be employed in a rotary pump, the dimensions may be made smaller, as the work to be done thereby is less severe. S, I, is the steam inlet to the chambered cam and S, O, the exhaust pipe. Partitions as B', divide this chamber into tWo sections, one for inlet ports and the other for outlets.

From these pumps the oil is forced to the various interior parts of the engine through pipes m, Fig. l, indicated in broken and full lines, partly through the center of the shaft E, S. The contact surfaces between the stationary and rotating parts of the engine are made steam tight by packing strips 7 and the film of oil.

The advantages of the improvements in the engine herein set forth are, that there are no dead centers; making the pistons in three or more parts, by Which they are more easily and effectively packed to produce a steamtight chamber; also placing the sliding steam valves in the inner parts of the rotary portion of the engine, near to the shaft, permits of better rerulation of steam on account of the short steam passages from the valve chambers to the expansion chamber, and having less abrupt angles Where the surfaces of the sinuous chamber change, permits of the use of a smaller sized engine With higher speed. Also constructing the cam-groove by which the sliding valves are actuated, of two similar plates, adds to the facility With Which the parts may be assembled and arranged to control their adjustment, either by. hand or lOl) lia;

automatically to change the point for steam cut-olf.

I claim:

In a rotary engine7 an annular steam chamber, a rotating cylinder which forms the peripheral limit of that chamber, pistons which reciprocate across suoli chamber in a direction parallel to the engine shaft, t-Wo series ot' sliding valves in the rotary portion 10 of the engine, which Valves also operate ina direction parallel to said shaft; the valves of one series alternating in their action With those of the other and respectively are alternately operated by a cani at different ends of the engine, to open and close the Valves successively When the engine is in operation.

MARY L. BRUNDAGE, Admz'nistmtria' of' Edward l/V. ooey, 'da

ceased. 

